Friday, December 18, 2009

For the dozens of baseball men wondering whether Aroldis Chapman’s official unveiling was worth the trip, the left-hander had an emphatic, 97-mph answer with his final pitch.

Sure was.

Executives and scouts came out of Tuesday’s 30-or-so-pitch bullpen session in Houston raving about the 21-year-old who defected from Cuba in July and will command big dollars on the free-agent market. [...]

The usual suspects for such high-priced talent attended the workout: The Yankees sent a scout, and the Boston Red Sox’s international scouting director, Craig Shipley, was there. Others from lower-revenue teams joined in the fray: Houston Astros general manager Ed Wade, Washington Nationals GM Mike Rizzo, Florida Marlins assistant GMs Jim Fleming and Dan Jennings, Oakland A’s assistant GM David Forst and Baltimore Orioles international scouting director John Stockstill. [...]

[Chapman's agents] The Hendricks brothers spent Tuesday afternoon in meetings with some of the teams at the workout. The two sources in attendance expect bids to start coming in soon – and higher than Boston’s $15.5 million offer first reported by ESPN.com. One official said he believes Chapman will sign in early January.

Remember the Matsuzaka brouhaha? Looks like we're going to get more of that kind of action next month. The Dodgers obviously won't be involved — too rich for Ned's blood! — but at least it'll be fun to watch other teams throw around mountains of $$$. Make it rain, GMs!